The Montana-North Dakota football game during the 2012 season at the Alerus Center will be televised nationally by DIRECTV Sports Networks.

Big Sky TV package, home football times announced

Courtesy: Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations
Release: 04/10/2012

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GRAND FORKS, N.D. – DIRECTV Sports Networks and Big Sky Conference officials announced their 12-game telecast schedule for the upcoming 2012 football season, which includes North Dakota’s home game with Montana on Oct. 20. Along with this news, UND Director of Athletics Brian Faison also released home kickoff times for the team’s six home games at the Alerus Center.

The 20th all-time meeting between Montana and North Dakota will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT and be aired on the ROOT SPORTS branded regional sports network. The three ROOT SPORTS networks reach more than 8.7 million viewers across 18 states.

“One of the advantages of playing in the Big Sky Conference is the added exposure our program will get on a national level,” UND head football coach Chris Mussman said. “This announcement really confirms that and we’re definitely excited about the opportunity to play a program of Montana’s stature in a nationally-televised game on our home turf.”

DIRECTV Sports Networks will produce and televise all 12 Big Sky Conference football games in high-definition, starting on Sept. 22 when Northern Arizona visits Montana. The network will also introduce new on-air graphics customized for the Big Sky Conference and each of its individual teams.

“We are very excited to showcase high-definition telecasts of Big Sky Conference football games to fans and alumni across the Big Sky communities and also nationally,” President of DIRECTV Sports Networks Patrick Crumb said,” Big Sky football continues to grow in strength and popularity, and this schedule will enable Big Sky fans to enjoy great competition among these universities.”

The remaining home kickoff times for the 2012 North Dakota football schedule are 7 p.m. for South Dakota School of Mines (Aug. 30), 6 p.m. for Portland State (Sept. 8), 6 p.m. for Cal Poly (Sept. 29), 3 p.m. for Northern Arizona (Oct. 13) and 1 p.m. for Southern Utah (Nov. 3).

Season tickets for the 2012 season starting at $60. To reserve your seat today call 701.777.4582 or visit FightingSioux.com

Here is the inaugural 2012 Big Sky football schedule on ROOT SPORTS:

•Sept. 22 – Northern Arizona @ Montana 2:30 p.m. CT

•Sept. 29 – Montana State @ Southern Utah 2:30 p.m. CT

•Sept. 29 – Montana @ Eastern Washington 6 p.m. CT

•Oct. 6 – Montana @ Northern Colorado 2:30 p.m. CT

•Oct. 6 – Montana State @ Cal Davis 6 p.m. CT

•Oct. 13 – Eastern Washington @ Montana State 2:30 p.m. CT

•Oct. 20 – Montana @ North Dakota 2:30 p.m. CT

•Oct. 27 – Idaho State @ Montana 2:30 p.m. CT

•Nov. 3 – Montana @ Weber State 2:30 p.m. CT

•Nov. 3 – Montana State @ Sacramento State 6 p.m. CT

•Nov. 10 – Portland State @ Montana State 2:30 p.m. CT

•Nov. 17 – Montana State @ Montana 2:30 p.m. CT

Big Sky Conference games will be distributed primarily on the Northwest and Rocky Mountain ROOT SPORTS networks, which are carried by all major distributors in those territories, including Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Cablevision (Optimum), Mid-Rivers Communications and several others. As the national television rights holder for Big Sky athletics, DIRECTV Sports Networks will have the ability to distribute Big Sky games to other regions to satisfy the growing interest in the conference's athletics and academics throughout the U.S.

About the Big Sky Conference

The Big Sky Conference will celebrate its 50th season in 2013-14, and currently consists of nine schools in eight states (Eastern Washington University, Idaho State University, The University of Montana, Montana State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Portland State University and Weber State University). On July 1, 2012, Southern Utah University and the University of North Dakota are scheduled to join as full members, and Cal Poly and UC Davis will join as football affiliate members.

The Big Sky Conference is one of the premier leagues at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision Level. It advanced teams to the Division I National Championship three straight seasons from 2008-2010. Eastern Washington won the national championship in 2010. This season, Montana advanced to the semifinals and finished third in the final poll. Montana State advanced to the quarterfinals and finished seventh in the final poll.

Multiple Big Sky Conference teams have qualified for the FCS postseason thirteen consecutive seasons. In recent seasons, league teams have upset squads from the Big 12 and Pac-12 Conferences, including Sacramento State's stunning overtime win over Oregon State earlier this season. The Big Sky is also home to the nation's top scorer in Division I basketball, Weber State's Damian Lillard.

About DIRECTV Sports Networks

Seattle-based DIRECTV Sports Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of DIRECTV and operates three regional sports networks branded as ROOT SPORTSTM. The three networks (based in Bellevue WA, Denver CO, and Pittsburgh, PA) are distributed in 18 states and hold exclusive regional telecast rights to over two dozen professional and collegiate teams, including the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Penguins, Utah Jazz, Seattle Sounders FC, Portland Timbers and Gonzaga University. The ROOT SPORTS networks also distribute Big 12, Pac-12, Conference USA and other collegiate football and basketball games.